Before Astarti’s mother abandoned her to the deadly ocean tides, she gave her infant daughter a parting gift: a tattoo known as the Griever’s Mark, meant to carry her into death. But before the tide could claim her, the Earthmaker Belos, cast out by his people for his cruelty and for delving into forbidden magic, found and saved her. At least, that’s his story.For seventeen years, Astarti has served Belos, using her control of the energy world, known as the Drift, to help Belos gain power throughout the kingdom of Kelda. Though she hates her master, the Leash he has anchored deep within her makes defiance impossible.But when Logan, a handsome Earthmaker with his own reasons to hate Belos, recognizes that Astarti may be more than she seems, Astarti begins to unravel Belos’s lies: about her Mark, about her parents, and, most importantly, about her power. Astarti also discovers that Belos’s plans are bigger and more terrible than anyone has guessed, and she must decide: how much will she risk to stand against him?

My Review:

Raised in the drylands since birth by an Earthmaker outcast, Astarti believes she has nowhere to run and absolutely no hope. Leashed to Belos she has to carry out his demands, traveling through the Drift. Refuse him leads to unspeakable punishment, possible death…and worse, the loss of her mind and soul.When She meets the Warden Logan she realises that the world is not as she always thought it was and there are powers that she has never seen or imagined. Thrown into the conflict between the Drifter-King Heborian, the Earthmarkers and Belos. Astarti must fight to keep her life, sanity and her forbidden love.I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are amazingly well developed with enough surprises here and there so that you are constantly learning things even when you think you know who every character is. I was able to guess some of the history of the characters from the tidbits dropped early on in the book. But overall the plot is well written and the characters fit perfectly in their world. Astarti spends a good amount of time figuring out who she is in this book. I look forward to seeing what she can do in the next installment.